In today's hearing aids data logging comprises logging of a user's changes to volume control during a program execution and of a user's changes of program to be executed. For example, European patent application no.: EP 1 367 857, which hereby is incorporated in the below specification by reference, relates to a data-logging hearing aid for logging logic states of user-controllable actuators mounted on the hearing aid and/or values of algorithm parameters of a predetermined digital signal processing algorithm.
Further, learning features of a hearing aid generally relate to data logging a user's interactions during a learning phase of the hearing aid, and to associating the user's response (changing volume or program) with various acoustical situations. Examples of this are disclosed in, for example, American patent no.: U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,050, American patent application no.: US 2004/0208331, and international patent application no.: WO 2004/056154, which all hereby are incorporated in the below specification by reference. Subsequent to the learning phase, the hearing aid during these various acoustical situations recalls the user's response and executes the program associated with the acoustical situation with an appropriate volume. Hence the learning features of these hearing aids do not learn from the acoustical environments but from the user's interactions and therefore the learning features are rather static.
Even though this type of data logging and learning provides improved means for a dispenser to adapt a hearing aid to a user, and thereby improving the quality of the hearing aid for the user, the known techniques do not provide a complete picture of which sounds in fact were presented to the user of the hearing aid causing the user to make changes to the volume or program selection.